CHURN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does churn mean? 

• CHURN (noun)
  The noun CHURN has 1 sense:

1. a vessel in which cream is agitated to separate butterfat from buttermilk

  Familiarity information: CHURN used as a noun is very rare.

• CHURN (verb)
  The verb CHURN has 2 senses:

1. stir (cream) vigorously in order to make butter

2. be agitated

  Familiarity information: CHURN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHURN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vessel in which cream is agitated to separate butterfat from buttermilk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

butter churn; churn

Hypernyms ("churn" is a kind of...):

vessel (an object used as a container (especially for liquids))

Derivation:

churn (stir (cream) vigorously in order to make butter)

• CHURN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they churn    ... he / she / it churns   
Past simple: churned   
Past participle: churned   
-ing form: churning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stir (cream) vigorously in order to make butter

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "churn" is one way to...):

stir (move an implement through)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

churn (a vessel in which cream is agitated to separate butterfat from buttermilk)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be agitated

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

boil; churn; moil; roil

Context example:

the sea was churning in the storm

Hypernyms (to "churn" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "churn"):

roll; seethe (boil vigorously)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The water churns

 Context examples 

Dust towers are massive, churning clouds that are denser and climb much higher than the normal background dust in the thin Martian atmosphere.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

But he had fooled them and the will to live that made them beat and churn.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Bright knots constantly form and dissipate in the disk as magnetic fields wind and twist through the churning gas.

(NASA Visualization Shows a Black Hole’s Warped World, NASA)

It also demonstrates that the deep, dense, inner layers of a star, where heavy elements and radioactive isotopes are forged, can be churned up and cast into space by stellar collisions.

(Stellar Corpse Reveals Origin of Radioactive Molecules, ESO)

The scientists said their findings suggest there is an additional pathway for leakage of carbon into rivers from soils churned by deforestation and land conversion.

(Tropical soil disturbance could be hidden source of carbon dioxide, National Science Foundation)

As the oceans churn and cold plumes snake around, ice in the uppermost ocean layer, called "Ice III," could form in the seawater.

(Ganymede may harbor 'club sandwich' of oceans and ice, NASA)

Behind him churned a heavily loaded Yukon sled, and before him toiled a string of five dogs.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He clutched its slippery top with both hands, releasing Buck, and above the roar of the churning water shouted: “Go, Buck! Go!”

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There were cries of men, and churn of sleds, the creaking of harnesses, and the eager whimpering of straining dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Then she paused, and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it licked her teeth and lips, and could feel the hot breath on my neck.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)